The invention described herein relates to a communications system accessible through a data network and in particular to a communications system which provides a plurality of modes of communication.
A number of services are currently available on the Internet for obtaining personal information about a particular person. These types of services incorporate a white page or yellow page databases which are searchable by a party at a remotely located user interface. When the web page for one of these services is accessed, a screen display will prompt the system user to insert search terms relating to the person to be located. At a minimum, these terms will include the person""s last name, but the search can be further narrowed by entering a first name, a state, and a city. A search is then performed of the database, and if relevant information relating to the search is located it is then presented to the system user through the screen display. The relevant information may include items such as telephone numbers and e-mail addresses.
Once the information for locating or contacting a person has been provided, a system user may manually initiate a number of modes for establishing communication with the identified party. One mode is the use of electronic mail, or e-mail. With e-mail, text messages are exchanged between mailboxes located at the various nodes on a network, such as the worldwide web. Technology also currently exists today for establishing a telephone connection over the worldwide web. Hardware and software can be incorporated into a user interface as well as various nodes on the network in order to establish a connection with the public switch telephone network (PSTN). The software incorporated into the user interface converts voice data to an electronic transmission which is sent over the worldwide web. The node to which the voice data is transmitted establishes a connection through the PSTN to the desired party. A person from a personal computer has the ability to establish a line of communication with another personal computer with IP telephony software, a telephone, a cell phone, a fax machine, or voice mail.
Described herein is a system for providing multiple modes of communication through a data network. The system may include at least one remotely located user interface which has access to the worldwide web or other networks through a network server. This access may be provided through a telephonic interface incorporated into the server. In order to access the worldwide web, the server includes a network interface which provides for a two way transfer of information. An interface is also included in the server for establishing connections with the the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Through this interface, phone calls can be placed by those who have access to server.
In another aspect of the invention the user interface is connected to the server through a more direct connection such as a local area network (LAN). The server in this case may be in connection with a number of computers and also have direct connection to an external data network such as the worldwide web. The server would also include an interface for placing telephone calls over the PSTN.
For the parties which have access to the server either through the telephone lines or over the worldwide web, the server may be used to facilitate communication between parties. In one example, the server may include the functionality to establish connections over the public switch telephone network such that telephonic communications may be established between the user interface and some remotely located telephonic device. The telephonic devices may include, a telephone, a cellular phone, a voice mail, a fax machine, as well as a pager.
The server also includes the functionality to establish communications over the worldwide web. In one example, the server provides the functionality to transmit e-mail between the user interface and a remotely located mailbox on the worldwide web. The functionality is also provided to transmit both audio and video images from the user interface to a remotely located nodes on the worldwide web.
The network server further includes a searchable database which contains information for establishing communication with persons or entities who have provided the information. As part of a service provided for worldwide web users, subscribers provide phone numbers, e-mail addresses, fax machine numbers, cellular phone numbers, video phone numbers, and various other information for establishing communication. All of this information is associated with the subscriber""s name and stored in the database. As described above, functionality is provided in the server for establishing connections through the various modes of communication. For example, means may be provided for establishing telephonic connection for any of the various telephone numbers stored in the database. Means may also be provided for transmitting e-mail, and sending alphanumeric messages to paging service providers. The information stored in the database may be searchable by users who establish a connection with the server. A search engine is provided and the information arranged such that a key word search will locate the relevant communications information about the subscribers.
In order to use the current system, the person seeking to establish a line of communication with a subscriber, accesses the server either through a telephone connection over a modem or through the worldwide web. Once a connection is established with the server, a screen display may be provided through which the system user submits information to identify the particular person to be contacted. If sufficient information is provided, and the person to be contacted is a subscriber of this system, the name will be located in the database and the system user will be provided with a screen display which includes the subscriber""s name and a list of modes of communications for the subscriber. For example, a series of icons may be included in the screen display, where each icon is a picture of the desired communication method. The system user may then select the icon representing the desired mode of communication and the server then executes the internal functions which will establish the desired mode of communication between the system user at the user interface and the subscriber.
In order to establish the desired mode of communication, screen displays may be provided for entering additional data in order to facilitate the transfer of information between the parties. For example, in the instance where an e-mail is to be transmitted, the system user would select the e-mail icon, and then a screen display would be displayed which would allow the user to enter an alphanumeric message. Once the user has entered the alphanumeric information in the space provided, the system user would select a send or transmit icon, and at that point the server would then transmit the information to the desired mailbox.
In the case where the system user wishes to establish a telephonic connection, the system user would merely select the icon representing a telephone connection, and at that point the server would attempt to establish a phone connection over the PSTN. If the attempt is successful, the server will facilitate the two-way transmission of information between the parties.
Subscribers to the service may also have the ability to access the database and change their communications information. This access can be gained either through a telephonic connection, or through the worldwide web. Sufficient security may be provided such that only the subscriber and a system administrator may access this information. When the system user does wish to change the information, all of the communications options are shown to the system user in tabular form, and the user can edit this information in the desired fashion.
Other processing modules may also be provided in the server for such things as billing for use. The system user may be able to access a series of screens so that cost of usage can be monitored or detailed billing information can be accessed.
Numerous additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art.